BP: Haiku Dialogue–Ephrasti-ku (Hell Courtesan)

The newest guest editor, Pippa Phillips, of the Haiku Foundation’s weekly column, Haiku Dialogue, has started a series of haiku themes based on art works. This week’s theme was the painting Hell Courtesan by Kawanabe Kyosai.

Haiku poets from around the world submitted haiku based on the painting including this pedometer geek writer. Surprisingly, one haiku was selected for inclusion. It is as follows:

folding screen

hiding

from the past

~Nancy Brady, 2022

Thanks Pippa for choosing one of my haiku. To read all of the haiku, check out the Haiku Dialogue column at http://www.thehaikufoundation.org.

BP: Haiku Dialogue–Ad Astra (To the Stars): The Final Frontier

This week the Haiku Foundation’s column, Haiku Dialogue, featured haiku based on the prompt, what Captain Kirk called the Final Frontier. Haiku poets were to imagine what it might be like to colonize other planets or travel beyond our own planet. This was the final column for the Ad Astra (To the Stars) series, which was edited by guest editor, Alex Fyffe.

Poets from around the world rose to the challenge, and they crafted haiku with this idea in mind.

This pedometer geek writer looked at the prompt from experiences of the past, and Alex Fyffe chose to include one. The haiku is as follows:

interplanetary travel

i dream

of earth

~Nancy Brady, 2022

To read all the haiku about the new frontier, check out http://www.thehaikufoundation.org and look for Haiku Dialogue. Thanks, Alex, for selecting one of the my haiku in the column this week; it’s appreciated.

A new guest editor, Pippa Phillips, debuts a series of Ekfrasti-ku, haiku written based on a picture or art piece. The theme for the week is “The Garden of Earthly Delights,” a triptych painted by Hieronymus Bosch, and haiku can be submitted until midnight (CST), January 8, 2022.

BP: Haiku Dialogue (Ad Astra) Impermanence

This week’s prompt at the Haiku Foundation’s weekly column, Haiku Dialogue, was impermanence. Guest editor Alex Fyffe indicated that in 100,000 years what would be remembered of our lives here and now (if anything) (I am paraphrasing here, but I digress), and to write a haiku showing that.

Haiku poets from around the globe found various ways to express the feeling of impermanence. Some were about the universe; some were more personal; some were thoughtful, and some were humorous, but all had merit.

This pedometer geek writer was excited to have had one haiku chosen by Alex for inclusion in the column. It is as follows:

red giant

all become

stardust

~Nancy Brady, 2021

Thanks Alex for choosing to include one of my haiku. To read all the haiku from this week’s column, check out http://www.thehaikufoundation.org and look under the Haiku Dialogue picture.

Next week’s prompt is also there, and one or two haiku can be submitted by midnight (CST) January 1, 2022 on the subject of space, the final frontier, and what it might look like.

A reminder to self: starting composing those haiku and submit.

****************

Last year (2021), this pedometer geek writer decided to submit to many of the haiku journals, and I have had a fair amount of haiku accepted into journals. Over sixty haiku and/or senryu were accepted, but many more were rejected (or as some of my haiku writer friends say, “they just haven’t found the right journal; keep editing and keep submitting”). The year 2022 is now here, and submissions begin again.

Happy New Year! May 2022 be happy, healthy, and peaceful to all.

BP: Haiku Dialogue: Ad Astra (To the Stars)–Black holes

This week’s Haiku Foundation’s weekly column, Haiku Dialogue, continued the theme of Ad Astra (To the stars) with black holes. Alex Fyffe, the guest editor, chose various haiku that he felt exemplified that idea.

Thanks to Alex, this pedometer geek writer was pleased to have had a haiku chosen for inclusion. It is as follows:

black hole

the time-suck

of the pandemic

~Nancy Brady, 2021

It might just be me, but the Covid-19 pandemic has really messed with my perception of time. I awaken in the morning and have to remind myself what day of the week it is. I also check my calendar to make sure that there are no appointments scheduled for the day. Sometimes, I am wrong. For example, I think it is Thursday, only to discover it is the weekend.

Some day I hope that there will be a (relative) return to normalcy.

To read all the haiku from poets around the world, check out Haiku Dialogue at http://www.thehaikufoundation.org.

Next week’s theme is impermanence, particularly in regard to the fact that even the universe may not last forever. One or two unpublished haiku on the theme may be submitted until midnight CST on Saturday, December 25th.

BP: Haiku Dialogue: Ad Astra (To the Stars)–Weightlessness

This week at the Haiku Foundation’s weekly column, Haiku Dialogue, the Ad Astra (To the Stars) theme was weightlessness. From the global community of haiku poets came haiku, which illustrated weightlessness in imaginative ways.

Alex Fyffe, the guest editor for this series of haiku columns, chose one of this pedometer geek writer’s haiku for inclusion. It is as follows:

dream-catcher…

if only all my dreams

included flying

~Nancy Brady, 2021

Thanks Alex for choosing one of mine, and thank you to K.J. Munro and Lori for overseeing the column.

I don’t know when I first dreamed of flying, but I know I was just a kid. It was such a freeing feeling when I took off under my own power, flying above my neighborhood friends and family. Unfortunately, those dreams don’t happen all that often. Alas…

To read all the haiku on weightlessness, check out http://www.thehaikufoundation.org and click on the link to Haiku Dialogue.

Next week’s prompt is black holes, and one or two unpublished haiku can be submitted until Saturday, December 18, 2021 at 12:00 midnight CST via the form provided.

BP: More Haiku Happenings

For the first time in several weeks, this pedometer geek had a haiku published in the Haiku Foundation’s weekly column, Haiku Dialogue. The new guest editor, Alex Fyffe, has been asking poets to focus on looking up and taking inspiration from the vastness of outer space. He’s been calling it Ad Astra (To the Stars).

This week’s prompt was distant suns, but he indicated that the loss of family or friends may be like distant suns, especially those stars which have died, but still some emit light. In that vein, here is the haiku, which he selected from my offerings:

parent tapes…

certain lessons still come

to mind

~Nancy Brady, 2021

My mom and dad may be gone, but their lessons live on in my sisters and me. Maybe not the same lessons, but they continue to affect the way we live.

To check out all the stellar haiku on Haiku Dialogue, see http://www.thehaikufoundation.org.

The Haiku Foundation also has a yearly feature called the Touchstone Awards. There are several categories, one of which is the Touchstone Award for Individual Poems. Any haiku poet who has a haiku published throughout the year can nominate up to two published haiku, one of which is their own, but the editors of various journals can also submit a certain number from those haiku they have published throughout the year.

In this context, Lori A. Minor, the editor of #FemkuMag, nominated one of my haiku for a Touchstone Award. Thank you Lori; I am grateful (and shocked) for just being nominated. It is as follows:

the scars

no one can see

damaged pistil

~Nancy Brady, 2021

#FemkuMag, Issue 29, April 2021

Again, Lori, thank you, and it is a great feeling just to be nominated.

BP: Haiku Happenings

This pedometer geek writer has been submitting to quite a few journals this year. Yes, there have been quite a few rejections along the way, but every so often, some editor chooses a haiku or two to publish.

Recently, there have been two journals, which have had editors gracious enough to choose to publish some of my haiku.

In October, Kokako #35, the New Zealand haiku journal, was published. Several of this poet’s haiku and senryu were selected by the editor, Patricia Prime, for inclusion. They are as follows:

folk songs

my guitar weeps

for justice

*

hot tempers

an argument leaves

a decided chill

*

summer afternoon

playing tug-of-war

with weeds

~Nancy Brady, 2021

Thanks Patricia; it is appreciated.

Presence #71, the British haiku journal, was published in November. Within the covers of the journal are haiku, tanka, senryu, haibun, and other short-form poetry. Like many other haiku journals, the haiku poets hail from around the world.

This pedometer geek writer feels honored to be among those poets included in the journal. The haiku chosen for inclusion by its editor, Ian Storr, is as follows:

street festival

the busker’s guitar case

of coins and blossoms

~Nancy Brady, 2021

Thanks Ian; it is appreciated.

Gladys Tidings of Joy: An Aloysius Story (99-Word Flash Fiction)

This week over at Carrot Ranch ( http://www.carrotranch.com ) the prompt for the week of December 2, 2021 was to write a story in 99 words (no more, no less) that includes the littlest Christmas goat, and to go where the prompt leads.

This pedometer geek writer decided on another Aloysius story, and it is as follows:

Gladys Tidings of Joy

The littlest goat, Gladys, was excited. She was going to be in a living nativity. She told Aloysius that she wanted to play an angel. “They’re a-a-awesome! They announce the birth to the shepherds.”

Aloysius was skeptical. “Are all the animals taking part?” he asked.

“The cows, sheep, and donkey will be near the manger, but I’m an angel,” Gladys said. “I’ve practiced jumping up at the right time. They’ll pick me for sure.”

Tryouts came, but Gladys was picked to play herself.

On Christmas Eve, Aloysius’s clover magic granted her a one-night wish. Gladys was an angel.

~Nancy Brady, 2021

Thanks Rob, for helping edit it down to 99 words (when I was hovering right between 98 and 100 words), coming up with a title, and the bleating goat sounds. To read more about Aloysius’s clover magic, check out In the Clover: A 99-word Flash Fiction

To read all the 99-word flash fictions, check out http://www.carrotranch.com. There are many excellent ones again this week.

Carrot Tops: A 99-Word Flash Fiction

One of the blog prompts over at Carrot Ranch was to write a 99 word (no more, no less) about tools, either using the word itself or mentioning different kinds of tools. This pedometer geek writer had difficulty with this prompt, but when I checked out the site (www.carrotranch.com ), I thought I had an extra week to write something. Finally, earlier today (soon to be tomorrow, but I digress), I came up with an idea, and it is as follows:

Carrot Tops

Aloysius considered himself to be ordinary as much as any cat believes he’s ordinary.

His magical powers were just part of who he was. His flying ability, his strength, his speed, and other abilities were all tools to be used when needed.

Aloysius mostly used his powers in a positive manner, but every so often his curiosity got the better of him.

This day, Aloysius watched the waving fronds of carrots in his family’s garden. Mesmerized, he pounced on them, pulling a carrot out. He took a bite, but wasn’t impressed until he realized he could see for miles.

~Nancy Brady, 2021

To read all the stories on tools, check out http://www.carrotranch.com under the blog tab. The Carrot Ranch’s Word Wranglers used the tool prompt in so many inventive ways.

BP: Wales Haiku Journal: Autumn 2021

The autumn edition of the Wales Haiku Journal has just been released. Thanks to the editor, Paul, this pedometer geek writer had a haiku selected for inclusion. It is as follows:

nature hike

our footsteps silenced

by pine needles

~Nancy Brady, 2021

To read all the haiku selected for the autumn Wales Haiku Journal, check out http://www.waleshaikujournal.com/autumn-2021. Paul has selected poets from around the world; it is truly a global journal.

Thanks Paul for selecting one of my haiku; it is appreciated that you found something in it.